A Strange Find
by Barazinbar
Summary: As Coulson and his team attempt to clean up after Hydra's thwarted takeover, they run into two men who claim to be not from this world. The aliens are searching for a traitor, one who has broken the most fundamental laws of their society, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him and any who know his secret.
1. Prologue

"In further news, several South American governments are blaming the CIA for the recent outbreaks of violence –"

_BLAM _

" – claims that separatist rebels are responsible for the attacks, which have crippled several mining facilities in rural areas."

"No. It is a harmless device."

The short man in the dark suit lowered the gun, stony face still fixed on the television. The reporter carried on with the day's news, oblivious to her now-deceased audience.

"They may have been trained not to react to such things."

The tall man in the dark suit sighed. "No. It is not a two-way transmission." He checked his watch. "The keepers of peace will be here soon. It will be best to make this seem a robbery. Find some valuable goods that are easy to carry."

Short wandered off towards the kitchen while Tall examined the pictures on the wall before selecting a framed diploma and removing it. He squinted at the elaborate calligraphy and then snapped the frame in half, shattering the glass and tearing the paper in two.

"We are destroying things too?" Short asked, a blender in his hand.

Tall gestured to the ruined diploma. "It is a mark of honor. These things are often defiled when humans steal from each other."

Short scowled. "That is not our way."

"It is the way of the human, which we must imitate." He saw the blender. "That is not a valuable item."

"It is some kind of weapon."

"It is in the area of food preparation." Tall picked up a wallet from the coffee table and rifled through it, removing a handful of bills and scattering the rest of the contents on the ground.

"Paper?"

"You did not read the briefing."

Short looked at the ground. "No."

"This is their currency." He stuck the bills in his pocket. "Remove items that appear to be in exalted positions. Leave the rest." While Short went through drawers and cabinets, Tall opened the dead man's computer. It was locked, but a few moments later a black screen popped up, over which white letters scrolled.

"Out of the shadows and into the light."

Short looked up. "What does that mean?"

"It is on the computer and has disabled normal functions. It is unimportant. The device is useless to us." He started to close the computer, but a new line of scrolling text caught his eye.

"Did you find something?" Tall was now bent over the device, staring intently at the screen.

"More words. Helpful words this time."

"What do they say?" Short hurried over to the table, sticking a saltshaker into his pocket as he went.

"Hail Hydra. Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place."

The two men looked at each other.

"It is everywhere then," Short said, his shoulders slumping. "We were too late."

"Unlikely. There may be many limbs, but only one head. That head will not allow such information to be widely dispersed."

"Then we had best hope Hydra's heads do not grow back."

Tall nodded and picked up the computer. He headed for the door, Short following him.

The police arrived some fifteen minutes later, and were thoroughly confused as to why only the kitchen appeared to have been raided.


	2. Chapter 1

"I don't think they saw me," Skye muttered to herself, ducking back into the alley. Another glance around the corner confirmed that the men had not moved. They were on a smoke break, talking calmly while their charge was inside the mansion behind them.

They looked like Shield, but they were Hydra. The line didn't seem to exist anymore. Coulson had a file of who was who, but whenever Fitz read her a name, Skye couldn't place on which side it belonged. There were too many surprises, both good and bad.

The agent inside the house was a Level 7, and taking him down would be one more step towards restoring some form of normalcy to the world. His bodyguards were Level 3's – still dangerous, but easily handled.

Skye reached into her bag and took out the grenade form of the icer. FitzSimmons had been working on it nonstop since repairing the bus. This was its first field test.

She pressed the activation button and rolled it towards the agents. They didn't even notice it. And they called themselves Shield agents.

The grenade detonated a few seconds later, knocking the agents flat. Skye could see the blue lines around their eyes – they weren't faking it.

"Two down, one to go," she muttered. "Coast's clear, May."

"Get back to the bus," the woman said through the earpiece. "Coulson and I will take care of the traitor."

"I've still got more of the grenades. Maybe I could –"

"Get back to the bus."

Skye sighed and turned. She hopped back when she saw the gun at her head.

His guards might've been idiots, but the Level 7 wasn't.

"Why can't Shield just accept their time is over?"

_BLAM _

Skye winced as warm blood and brains splattered across her face and chest. The headless corpse crumpled to the ground as a short man lowered a gun.

"I prefer this weapon," he said. "It is much more satisfactory."

"Was that a gunshot?" May asked.

"Skye, what's going on?" Coulson said.

"Um…I don't know," Skye said. "I think Shield."

"What are you talking about? There aren't any Shield agents in the area."

"Who is the human speaking with?" the short man asked.

"Others," a taller man said, stepping into the alley. He was dressed exactly the same as his short counterpart. "This one is Hydra?" He nodded at the corpse.

"Uh, yeah," Skye said. "Are you with Shield?"

"No. The two outside – they are Hydra as well?"

"Yeah."

Tall nodded to Short, who headed to where the men lay unconscious.

"You can't kill them!" Skye said. "That's –"

_BLAM BLAM _

"What the hell is going on there?" Coulson said. "We're on our way."

"Better be careful," Skye whispered. "These guys are seriously weird."

"Shield is fighting Hydra, correct?" Tall asked.

"Yeah."

"Hydra has information we require. We will need access to Shield's files."

"Uh, yeah, good luck with that. They weren't really in a sharing mood before all this stuff happened, so I really doubt they'll open up now."

"We require information. It will not be abused."

"Like you abused those Hydra agents?"

"They are thieves. We will secure our knowledge and dispose of thief and traitor. Then we will leave."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"That is best. Take us to your – why are you laughing?"

"My leader? Is that what you want?" Skye bit her lip, but she couldn't stop giggling. "Take me to your leader," she said in a robotic voice.

"I fail to see the humor."

"That's not surprising."

"Drop the gun!" Coulson and May appeared on either side of Short, who looked from one to the other to Tall, who nodded.

"We are on the same side, human."

"Human?" Coulson cocked his head. "Are you saying you aren't?"

"We were given to understand that Shield was more informed. We have need of your resources."

"Who are you?"

"That is unimportant. We need access to your files."

"That's not going to happen."

"Then we will take what we need," Short said. He had lowered, but not dropped, the gun.

"We have no conflict with your world," Tall said. "We have no interest in it either. Give us access to your files, let us find our traitor, and we shall depart."

"I've met aliens before," Coulson said. "You don't look like them."

"You are referring to the Asgardians? We are not them."

"So you're some other alien race. Apparently. Or you're two insane murderers, possibly working for Hydra. Why should I trust you?"

"If we were working for Hydra, why would we have killed three Hydra agents?"

"To gain our trust. Hydra doesn't give a damn about its own."

"Clearly that would have been an ineffective strategy. Claiming to be non-humans would also have been unproductive, as it has made you suspicious. It is unlikely that we are both insane, leaving as the only option that we are telling the truth."

"That's not the only option," May said.

"Convince me then," Coulson said.

Tall frowned. Then he slammed his fist into a nearby dumpster, punching through the metal. He cautiously withdrew his hand, leaving only a few scratches on his skin.

"…Okay. So you aren't ordinary. That hardly makes you aliens."

"A typical human tactic. Rationalize the unknown. I will say this only once more: give us access to your files."

"No."

"Wait!" Skye said. "Can you tell us what kind of alien you are?" She glanced at Coulson. "We have files that could verify what you're saying."

"That's true," he said. "Well? What are you?"

"That is not your business," Tall said. "Humans have died for knowing less."

"Clearly. But you want something from us, so we need something in return."

"I cannot tell you much, but we are from a distant galaxy hunting one of our own who has turned traitor. He was sent here to observe Earth but we lost contact with him some time ago. We initially believed him killed by our enemies, as some activity had been noted in the area. We now believe he has sold our secrets to humans, specifically, Hydra."

"On the basis of what?"

"Their motto."

Coulson blinked. "What?"

"Their saying. Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place."

"…What about it?"

"It is unimportant to you, but very valuable to us. We have been honest with you and spoken more than is wise. Give us access to your files."

"Don't do it," May said.

"If you refuse to cooperate, direct us to a Shield agent who will," Tall said.

"Like hell."

A tense moment followed, with Skye and May as well as the two supposed extraterrestrials watching Coulson.

"Follow me."

"Coulson." May grabbed Coulson's arm. "You can't do this."

"They don't like Hydra."

"They're spies."

"Then they're really bad spies. Hand over the weapons, you two." Short and Tall both relinquished a surprising number of guns and knives. "Is that it?" Coulson asked.

"Could they actually have more?" Skye asked.

"It's not like they need them. Let's go."


	3. Chapter 2

"So…they're aliens?"

"That's what they say," Skye said, watching as Short and Tall looked around the bus. They had been confined to the main quarters, watched over by May, while Coulson looked through some files. It was unlikely he'd find anything. The two men weren't really alien-alien. No tentacles or anything. That you could see. Hard to identify them based on their entirely human looks and super strength alone.

"They're aliens?" Fitz shook his head. "They're not aliens."

"Because they're not green? The tall one punched a hole through a dumpster."

"I could do that if I had superpowers. They're just some kind of crazies. Which begs the question of why they're on the plane."

"I don't know. By the way, how much do you know about Hydra?"

"Uh…the aliens know about Hydra?"

"Apparently. Where's the whole limb-chopping thing come from?"

"…Greek mythology."

"Hercules killed it," Simmons said. "It was quite clever really. He chopped off a head –"

" – And his nephew would cauterize the bloody stump. We all know that, Simmons."

"I didn't," Skye said. "So it's not some kind of sinister plot?"

"No, it's just a stupid saying. Why?"

"That's why they're killing Hydra agents."

"What?"

"They said it was because of their motto."

Fitz frowned. "Maybe there's more to it then. You know, there've always been a lot of rumors about hidden Hydra gold…"

"Oh not that again, Fitz!" Simmons sighed. "I thought we were finally done with that."

"Five hundred kilos of gold does not just walk off!"

"That's because it didn't. Honestly, I cannot take this again." She walked over to Coulson and May.

"It's out there somewhere," Fitz said. "One of these days…"

"There." Tall pointed to the map Coulson had projected on the holoscreen. "That is where we lost contact."

"Myanmar. Not an easy place to go looking through."

"We received faint signals that he was heading northeast, but that was all. That was…" Tall hesitated, frowning as though he was doing some difficult mental math, "three years ago." He said 'years' strangely, like it was a completely foreign concept.

"Until the signal was activated," Short said. He winced as Tall shot him a glare.

"You weren't supposed to tell us that, I'm guessing," Coulson said.

"He has betrayed everything we stand for," Tall said. "And he will die for it, along with any who he has corrupted."

"We have a saying on Earth: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. We'll welcome any help we can get dealing with Hydra. If you think this traitor of yours is working for them, we can kill two birds with one stone. That's another saying."

"How rich your language is. Regrettably, all signals have led us nowhere. There does not appear to be a connection among any of the corrupted. They were humans of both genders living in comfortable environments."

"And they were all Hydra?"

"We did not discover the Hydra connection until the last." He took out a harddrive. "There are no more signals now. We fear the worst."

"Can I look at that?" Skye asked, nodding at the harddrive.

"We would not have showed it unless we were willing. The device it was in appeared broken, however. It repeated certain phrases endlessly, including the Hydra mantra."

"It was a Shield computer then," Coulson said. "Where did you get this?"

Tall shrugged. "From a human."

"What did you to the human?"

"He was corrupted."

"He better have been Hydra."

"Doubt it," Fitz said. "I don't think Hydra would've destroyed their own tech."

"What exactly is a 'corrupted' human? And don't tell me it's secret. You killed one of my people. Probably more."

"It is against the laws of our people to share certain information. Such information is traceable, in some forms. The humans we killed had come into contact with that information."

Coulson took a deep breath. "The enemy of my enemy," he said to himself. "All right. Skye, take a look through that harddrive. May, set a course for the Shield base in Nepal. That's the closest we can get to Myanmar."

"That's not a cleared base," May said. "It might be in Hydra's hands."

"Then we'll clean up some trash on the way."


	4. Chapter 3

"So you're aliens?" Simmons looked Short up and down. "Both of you? How _fascinating. _I met an Asgardian once, but never another alien. A live one, I mean. Not that we have lots of dead aliens. Just ones you find here and there. Not that that happens a lot. I mean, after the Battle of New York there were a few, but…oh dear."

Short just blinked.

"Ignore her," Fitz said, gently pushing Simmons out of the way. "How did you get here? Teleportation? Faster than light travel? Do you have a spaceship somewhere?"

"Fitz! He's not going to answer that."

"It's better than convincing him he's about to become an experiment for dissection!"

"Oh no! I didn't mean that. I'm so sorry – you must think I'm horrible. It's just dead aliens we – oh, that's not any better." Simmons wandered off towards the holoscreen, shaking her head.

"We're not all like that," Fitz said. "She's just a bit… Well, you know. I bet anyway. Are women like that where you're from?"

"Has your technician found something of use?" Short asked.

"Huh? Oh. Skye, have you found anything?"

"I'm working on it," she said. "Hydra really did a number on Shield's systems, and the personal computers weren't as well protected as the systems at the Hub."

"There isn't anything…dangerous on there, is there?" Fitz asked. "Whatever corrupted its former owner – it's gone…right?"

"The human's corruption perished with it."

"Oh. Well, that's good."

"The corruption," Simmons said, gliding back over, "is it a virus? Did your traitor pass it to the people he came into contact with?"

"I am not familiar with this term. Its description, however, appears apt."

"It's communicable? How fascinating. Er, you don't have it, do you? It's just, alien viruses, they're rather hard to get rid of."

"I will not discuss this with you."

Simmons sighed. "You know, if I could just get a –"

"Simmons! Leave the man alone," Fitz said. "So, uh, what happens when we land?"

"We make sure the base is in Shield hands," Coulson said. "Then we see if we can help our alien friends."

"Is that another saying?" Tall asked. "I would not call us friends."

"Just being polite. What's our ETA, May?"

"Fifteen minutes," came the pilot's voice over the com system.

"Have you contacted the Shield base?"

"No. Are we going to announce our arrival?"

"No. It'll be a surprise inspection."

"It seems likely that blood will be spilled when we land," Tall said. "I request that our weapons be returned."

"So you can shoot us in the back?"

Tall and Short recoiled as if physically struck.

"That would be dishonorable," Short said.

"We may not be friends, but we are allies," Tall said. "Until that alliance is terminated, we will not harm you. I assume the same goes for you."

"Human allies turn on each other?" Short asked. He stared at Fitz like he had sprouted tentacles on his head. "What kind of world _is_ this?"

"I still don't buy your alien talk," Coulson said. "From what you did to that dumpster, I'd say you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."

"Not against the traitor. Not against those he has corrupted. He was…" Tall paused. He almost seemed to be choking back some kind of emotion. "He was the best of us."

"That's how it always works, isn't it? Earth and…wherever else." Coulson handed Tall a gun. "If you wanted to kill us, we'd be dead."

"That is true. If we encounter the traitor, leave him to us."

"Will do. FitzSimmons, Skye, stay here. You two, follow me."

The bus landed as subtly as it could, which is to say, not subtly at all. It blew away the dust and snow covering the simple concrete bunker, guns swiveling from side to side.

"There were about a dozen agents stationed here," Coulson said, standing in the bay between the aliens and Lola. "Level 4's and 5's."

"Is that high-rank?" Tall asked.

"Good to know you don't know _that_ much about us." He shrugged. "It's not suicide."

Short sighed. "Another unworthy assignment."

Tall shot him a glare. "There will be a fight worth the fighting when we find the traitor."

The plane shook as it landed. Coulson reached out a hand to steady himself on Lola. The two aliens didn't seem to notice the jolt.

"Open the door, May!" he said, unholstering his gun.

The bay door of the bus lowered, only concrete and darkness visible beyond.

"Let's go."


	5. Chapter 4

"Got it."

"Huh?" Fitz stopped pacing and looked up.

"I got past the Hydra virus," Skye said. "Most of the important files are ruined, but I got his resume pulled up."

"Who was it?"

"Kevin Langton, a nurse with a degree in biotechnology."

"What was his name?" Simmons looked at the screen.

"Did you know him?"

"Maybe. When I was doing my surgery rotation one of the nurses was named Kevin. Oh!" She frowned. "I remember him. He was always correcting me. Does it say anything about neurosurgery? Oh, yes it does. It _is_ him."

"_Was_ him. The aliens killed him, remember?"

"That's a shame." Simmons didn't sound entirely earnest. "He'd probably gloat about it if he could. Being killed by _aliens_ – how unique. He was always talking about all the famous people he'd worked with."

May hurried down the stairs, adjusting her body armor as she went. "Stay on the bus."

"Has something gone wrong?" Simmons asked.

"Not yet, but I'm not going to leave Coulson with two aliens to watch his back."

"They seemed quite sincere about not betraying us."

May looked at her. "So was Hydra."

"She has a point," Fitz said after the pilot had left.

"Maybe we should –" Skye began. She was interrupted by a call from the holoscreen.

"It's from the Hub," Simmons said. "Should we answer it?"

"It's probably for Coulson," Fitz said. "Level 8 stuff."

"Coulson's not here though," Skye said. "Answer it!"

Simmons tapped the screen and jumped back. A grim-faced man appeared on the screen and frowned at Simmons.

"Where's Coulson?"

"He's, uh, unavailable right now. How can I help?"

"Who are you?"

"Oh, of course! Agent Jemma Simmons."

"Good to meet you, Agent Simmons. You'll want to hear this as well."

"It's not good news, is it?"

"I'm afraid not. I was going through the death reports of Shield agents in recent months, to see if there was any Hydra connection we hadn't caught onto yet. There were six murders the police described as home invasions, all in which nothing valuable was taken. Antiques were left while – " He squinted as he looked at a file " – _kitchen appliances_ were taken."

"How peculiar."

"I checked the background of the agents and came up with a connection." He sighed. "It looks like we've got another high level Hydra agent."

"Oh dear. Who is it?"

"All the victims were Shield medical personnel."

"Oh no." Simmons bit her lip. "Anyone…anyone I know?"

"Kevin," Skye whispered. "Ask about Kevin!"

"What was that?" the agent said.

"Um…I heard from some – a file – that Kevin Langton was dead. Is he one of the victims?"

The agent nodded. "The most recent. Did you two work together?"

"A little. Who did it?"

"That's where it gets strange. All the victims were involved in a high-level project headed by Dr. Stephen Streiten. Is that name familiar?"

"No…I can't say it is."

"He's a Level 9. Most of his file is restricted, but I was able to pull some strings. Here's the bizarre thing. He doesn't exist."

"What?"

"His file was created about three years ago. Prior to that there's nothing. Sure, there're diplomas and references, but they're all fake. Someone just created this guy out of thin air."

"Three years ago?" Skye said.

"Oh dear," Fitz said, shifting back and forth. "This isn't good."

"Um…when…when did Dr. Streiten join Shield?" Simmons asked.

"Three years ago," the agent said. "Director Fury personally invited him to join after meeting him in Myanmar."

"Myanmar? What, uh, part exactly?"

"Northern. Why?"

"Northeastern, perhaps?"

"…Yes." The agent frowned. "Is something going on?"

"Er…Coulson will get back to you. Thank you!" Simmons ended the call. "What do we do?"

"Well…we know who the traitor is," Skye said.

"And he's not Hydra," Fitz said. He swallowed. "I don't think that whole allies thing is going to last long once they find out _Shield_ is corrupted."


	6. Chapter 5

The three men moved out of the aircraft bay and onto the bunker roof.

"Clear," Coulson said.

"Where is the entrance?" Tall asked.

"Over there. Trapdoor."

"Trap?"

"Door. It's an opening in the roof. It also does make for a good trap."

"This?" Short stood over a small hatch in the roof.

"Yes. Be –" The alien smashed it open with one kick " – careful."

"There is no one down here." Short jumped into the hole.

"Clear," Coulson said. "You say _clear_."

"Stay back, human," Tall said. "This is not your fight."

"Actually, it is, but if you want to absorb bullets for me I'm not complaining."

The alien followed his comrade into the bunker. Coulson looked down into the darkness and took a deep breath before climbing down the ladder.

"No signs of life, May." He adjusted the earpiece. The surrounding concrete was messing with the signal.

"Nothing up here either."

"Stay there and keep a watch on the bus. If Hydra's here, they might try a sneak attack."

"You trust those aliens?"

"No. But they're not at my back."

The com crackled and May's words were garbled before cutting out entirely. She'd probably said something along the lines of 'good luck' or 'be careful.'

They continued down the narrow corridor, Short leading the way. He walked as though he owned the place, hardly glancing around corners before he turned. He was going to get blown to pieces if there were any traps.

Coulson threw himself against the wall as a hail of gunfire split the air. He glanced ahead, expecting to see the bloody, stringy remains of Short. The alien just looked annoyed though, examining a hole in his suit sleeve as he leaned against the wall.

"It is not unoccupied."

"Hydra or Shield?"

"They have not declared themselves."

"Hydra or Shield?" Coulson called.

"Hail Hydra!" came the reply.

"An easy answer." Short turned the corner, pulling out his gun as he went. Six shots and none in return.

"Clear?"

"There are no more."

"You say _clear_."

"There will be more," Tall said. "We must be approaching their headquarters."

"The control room will be in the center of the bunker."

Six bodies lay in the hallway. Coulson didn't look at faces. No movements, no sounds even. It was too quiet.

They rounded a few more corners but faced no more agents. Just the increasingly eerie silence.

"Something is wrong," Tall said at last, stopping.

"We are almost there," Short said. He nodded at a door at the end of the hallway. "Surely that is their headquarters."

"Yes. And surely there are still some men alive to defend it. Where are they?"

"They may have activated a self-destruct function," Coulson said. "I didn't think this base was equipped with it though."

"That would have been preferable to know _before_ entering," Tall said. He frowned, squinting at the door. "This is an undesirable situation."

"It is one door," Short said. "And not a strong one at that." He walked down the hallway. "This mission has been unworthy of a warrior. Not once have I stared death in the face."

"Look –" Coulson didn't get another word out. The steel door opened and a small sphere rolled out, purple light blinking rapidly.

The blast knocked all three men off their feet. The world spun for Coulson as his stomach heaved and muscles spasmed. Hydra tech. You couldn't beat it when you wanted to turn someone inside out.

Gray and black whirled before his eyes, along with weird splotches of color. The colors brightened to blue and white, and for a moment he feared he was dying again. Then a pinkish blob resolved itself into a fuzzy version of Simmons' face.

"What happened?" he slurred. He felt sick. Horribly so. He rolled over and puked in a bucket Fitz held.

"I thought that might happen," Simmons said. "It was a psych-bomb. Very new, not very stable. It gave the thrower a nasty burn. Not that he noticed it for long."

"What happened to Hydra?"

"They have been disposed of," Tall said. "You are well, human?"

"How did I get out?"

"We carried you," Short said. "We do not leave allies behind."

Coulson nodded and leaned back. The world was still spinning, though it had improved somewhat. "Thank you."

"We do not leave allies behind."

"Where are we now?"

"The air," Simmons said.

"Going where?"

"Somewhere."

"Simmons…"

"They have found the traitor," Tall said. "Or so they say. Your subordinates will not say anything else to us."

"We think we might have a lead," Simmons said. "Now, I really must ask you two to leave. Coulson's quite sick and having all these people around isn't going to help him." She shooed the aliens out the door.

"How bad is it?" Coulson asked.

"Pretty bad," Fitz said.

"He's Shield, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

Coulson closed his eyes. The nausea abated. "Do you have a name?"

"Stephen Streiten."

Coulson's eyes shot open. "_What?_"


	7. Chapter 6

"Do you, uh, know Dr. Streiten?" Simmons twisted her hands, shifting from foot to foot.

"He's the doctor who operated on me. He can't be involved in this."

"Well…that's the only connection."

"How do you know this?"

"We got a call from the Hub. Several Shield medical personnel had been murdered recently. The agent suspected Dr. Streiten, but –"

" – We think it was the aliens," Fitz said, "and 'Stephen Streiten' is the traitor."

"Impossible. He didn't –" Coulson sighed. "He didn't look anything like an alien. Dammit. I wish they _were_ green."

"We have his address – that's where we're going," Skye said. "We're going to land at the nearest airfield."

"What do we do though?" Fitz asked. "He's Shield. Those aliens are going to kill us all once they realize Hydra isn't their enemy."

"They don't need to know that," Coulson said. "If Streiten is their traitor, then he's Hydra. The aliens aren't going to ask questions, and I doubt Streiten's going to be able to speak in his defense. What is it, Simmons?" The scientist had been fidgeting for some time now.

"I just thought that maybe…maybe you shouldn't go to see Streiten."

"What?"

"Well, it's just, he'll recognize you. And if he operated on you, then the aliens might think _you're_ corrupted."

Coulson nodded to himself. "Get me the files of the other agents who've been killed."

Simmons blinked, then nodded and hurried out. It took Fitz a minute to realize he was expected to follow.

"Is this about the operation?" Skye asked.

"I don't know," Coulson said. "I'll need to see if the others were involved in it. Who am I kidding? Yes, it's about the operation."

"But the aliens've been able to tell if a person was corrupted or not. They should've been able to tell the moment they saw you."

"None of them had the operation performed on them. Maybe it was exposure to…something."

"The serum?"

"Maybe. Maybe something else."

"It couldn't have been the serum though," Skye said. "It wasn't…_alien_ or anything. It was just some chemical Shield came up with. Right?"

Coulson tried very hard not to look away. "Right."

"Maybe Streiten stole it from the aliens. It could be some secret invulnerability serum. I bet they wouldn't want that getting into the wrong hands."

"Definitely not."

"So that'd explain why they're looking for him. …But it's in both of us."

"Don't say that out loud."

"How come they can't sense it?"

"Because it's probably not what they're looking for," Coulson said. "It must be something else. Streiten must have been involved in a different project, or maybe it was another procedure. I had a lot of them done."

"Simmons is right; you can't see Streiten."

"She is. It would be a stupid thing to do."

Skye sighed. "What are you going to do if he turns into some giant alien superthing and attacks those guys?"

"Get out of the way."

"May should go with you."

Coulson shook his head. "She's staying with you and FitzSimmons."

"I'm not staying behind!"

"You have to. There's no reason for you to be there. It will only make them suspicious."

Skye sighed. "I want to know why I'm alive."

"I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything that happens. I promise."

"If you get out alive."

"Well…there is that."


	8. Chapter 7

The plane landed at dawn. May gave the airfield some fake codes, which they accepted a little too eagerly. Coulson slipped an extra cartridge into his pocket as the bay door opened.

"Are you _sure_ about this?" Simmons asked. "You aren't feeling sick? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine."

"You tolerate such insubordination?" Tall asked. "I would have executed a subordinate for such words."

Simmons gasped and jumped back a few steps. Coulson just smiled.

"We do things differently on Earth."

"And your agency has been compromised."

"Not for long." He got into Lola's front seat. "You two sit in the back."

He drove out of the plane and onto the tarmac, blasting across the flat land. The gates opened for him – whatever May had said had been good – and they were home free.

"I do not feel anything," Tall said.

"No fear? Or what?"

"We can feel our own. I feel nothing."

"He must be hiding it then. Didn't you say he was the best of you?"

Tall nodded. "He was granted great powers by our lords."

"And then he went rouge. That happens here too. Maybe you shouldn't go giving people powers."

"It was a worthy gift for his services."

Coulson shrugged. "Don't cause collateral damage," he said. "We're going to a residential neighborhood."

"Collateral damage?"

"Not a familiar term? Only kill Streiten."

"Streiten… That is the name he has taken? He has fallen far indeed."

"Stephen Streiten, agent of Hydra."

Tall scowled. "He has betrayed everything. _Everything_."

Trees sprang up, manicured lawns and children playing in the sun. Paradise. Tall and Short didn't seem to notice. This was the world at its best, and all they could think of was blood. Well, that was the only thing on Coulson's mind as well. This damn doctor… He'd played his part well. Coulson had almost believed he was on his side.

He parked Lola on the side of the road in front of Streiten's house. It was a nice place – white picket fence, green lawn, some flowers. His neighbor was out watering his lawn. He started a little as three men in dark suits got out of the car and headed for Streiten's door.

"You guys here to see Stephen?"

"Yes," Coulson said.

"…You guys FBI or something?"

"We're not at liberty to say. Do you suspect Mr. Streiten of some crime?"

"What? No! I mean, you guys just look a little…" He gestured vaguely. "Never mind. Er…"

"What?"

"Well, it's just, it's eight."

Coulson checked his watch. "So it is."

"Stephen meditates at eight."

"I guess we'll be interrupting then."

The neighbor grimaced. "He _really_ doesn't like it when people interrupt his meditation."

"That's too bad." Coulson walked up to the door. When he glanced over at the neighbor's yard, the man was nowhere to be seen, his screen door banging shut.

"Meditation," Tall said, puzzling over the word.

"A calming activity. He'll need it." He knocked. "Mr. Streiten! It's Shield! Open the door!"

No response.

"We will break it down," Tall said.

"Give him a minute. Stephen Streiten! Open the door!" He knocked harder, pounded on the door, put all his rage into it.

The door flew open and he nearly fell in. The broken lock dangled from the frame.

"…Huh. Guess I was a little more worked up than I thought." Coulson rubbed his hand. It didn't hurt yet. That would come later, no doubt. He hoped he hadn't broken it.

"Traitor!" Tall called, pushing past Coulson. "Where are you?"

Streiten's house was a tidy, comfortable little suburban nest. There were quite a lot of glass display cases, giving it the look of an old woman's antique-cluttered den. Coulson glanced at few of them, only to do a double take and look more closely. Some of these things weren't quite…right.

"Where is he?" Short asked. "You are unworthy of your name! Come out and face us like a true warrior!"

"Here." Coulson stood near the entrance to a small sundrenched room. It was sparsely furnished, only a sea-green rug and a pile of books on the polished wooden floor. A man sat cross-legged on the rug, his eyes closed. He didn't look like an alien. He wasn't green.

Or blue. He wasn't blue either. Coulson swallowed, the vision of that rotting _thing_ floating up in his mind. That wasn't a good thing to think about with the aliens around.

"That is not the traitor," Tall said.

"That's Stephen Streiten."

"That is _not_ the traitor."

"Then who –" Coulson took a step into the room and everything went dark.

"Found him!"

"What?" Fitz looked up from his latest project. He'd been working on it since Coulson left some hours ago. Everyone was trying not to get worried.

"Stephen Streiten," Skye smiled to herself. "The _real_ Stephen Streiten. I don't know why he changed his name, but here he is." She showed Fitz the picture of a stern man looking out at the world with grim eyes.

"He looks familiar."

"I think he was some kind of famous doctor or something. Went off the grid after a nasty car accident."

"So…is he the alien or not?"

"Oh…" Skye bit her lip. "Uh oh."

"May!" Fitz called.

"What?" She ran into the room.

"We've got a bit of a problem."

"What is it?"

"Stephen Streiten isn't the alien."

"He was erased from everywhere except Shield's databases," Skye said, showing her the picture. "It took forever to find them – all labeled top secret. Someone really wanted to make sure this guy was gone."

May shrugged. "He's about to be permanently gone if those aliens get to him. Come on."

"What's going on?" Simmons rushed over, her lab coat flapping around her legs.

"Streiten's not an alien," Fitz said.

"Oh dear. Who is he?"

Skye showed her the picture and Simmons' hands flew to her mouth.

"You know him?"

Simmons nodded. "I thought he was dead! _Everyone_ thought he was dead!"

"Is he dangerous?" May asked, grabbing an icer.

"No. He's only the most brilliant neurosurgeon I've ever heard of. He was in this terrible car accident though, and he disappeared a few months later after he was told he'd never be able to operate again. Everyone thought he'd killed himself."

"Apparently not," Skye said. "What's he doing mixed up in this?"

May shrugged. "We'll ask when we get there. Let's go."

"I can't believe this!" Simmons was almost jumping with joy. "We're going to meet _Dr. Strange!_"


End file.
